Max Verstappen denied Belgian Grand Prix pole with grid penalty as Charles Leclerc steals top spot
Max Verstappen has been handed a grid penalty
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Max Verstappen finished fastest in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but will start Sunday's race in 11th due to a grid penalty with Charles Leclerc on pole.
The Dutchman has exceeded his allocated number of engines for the season after taking his fifth ICE unit ahead of the race in Spa.
That automatically handed Verstappen a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix and opening the door for someone else to sit on pole.
Red Bull were showing good pace throughout practice with Sergio Perez putting in his strongest weekend for a long time.
Max Verstappen has been handed a grid penalty
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Nobody was able to challenge Verstappen's time, but it never mattered anyway with the three-time world champion dropping down to 11th for Sunday's race.
It was a battle for second with Perez the best-of-the-rest after the initial set of runs in Q3.
Lewis Hamilton and the two McLaren drivers were close to the Red Bull driver, but they were unable to improve their times to challenge Perez.
However, Leclerc put in a stellar lap to put his Ferrari ahead of Perez and steal pole away from his rival.
It means Leclerc will start ahead of Perez on the front row in tomorrow's Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was the quickest Mercedes as he edged out Lando Norris on the second row.
Oscar Piastri will start ahead of George Russell with Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso just behind them.
Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon will start just ahead of Verstappen, who will be hoping to move up the grid quickly.
Charles Leclerc will start on pole
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Leclerc was left a bit shocked at being able to snatch pole away from Perez after his initial run in Q3.
He said: "I definitely did not expect that this weekend. Obviously with the tricky conditions we could do something above our expectations.
"So it's a good day for the team so now we need to focus on tomorrow and see what will happen when the rain is gone.
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Lewis Hamilton will start third
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"Without this rain, probably P5 was the position we were fighting for with the Mercedes especially. But with the rain it helped us a little bit, but I'm not going to complain.
"I'm really happy, I'm really happy with the lap in Q3, and it's good to be back on the front part of the grid. Now we've got to finalise that tomorrow.
"It's not the easiest first place to keep on the first lap here, but honestly I will see. Every start is different and then once I will be in the car tomorrow through Eau Rouge I will see what the best thing is that I can do.
"Obviously I'll try to keep that first place."
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